Fifty songs that were part of rhythm and blues heritage but which didn’t fully find a mainstream audience until they were remade.
Endlessly underrated, Hardin wrote some of the most beautiful and enduring songs of his day, including the much-covered 'If I Were A Carpenter' and 'Reason To Believe.'
'From Hello Dolly To Goodbye Charlie' took its snappy title from the versions of those songs that bookended the great singer's 1964 album.
Billy May arranged for some of the best in the business, artists like Glenn Miller, Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, and Anita O'Day.
The song written by Harry Akst and Benny Davis also connects Elvis Presley, Paul McCartney and countless others.
His reading of 'Mack The Knife' topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic and became another Darin classic.
‘If I Were A Carpenter’ is also closely associated with the Four Tops, Johnny Cash & June Carter and many others.
The Motown quartet's skill in customizing pop material was especially clear when they covered Jimmy Webb.
Listen to some of the well-known and more obscure entries on Billboard's first-ever Hot 100, for the week of August 4, 1958.
The song written by Sharon Sheeley made history on the August 4, 1958 chart.
'Early In The Morning' had a bizarre history, even by the standards of the chart battles that often took place in the 1950s.
Before Ella Fitzgerald covered 'Mack The Knife', Louis Armstrong had the original hit in 1955 and proved to be Louis’s biggest hit for years.
'Dreamboats and Petticoats Presents The Very Best of Marty Wilde' entered the official UK album chart at No. 7.
The ever versatile Bobby Darin turned his hand to country music on 1963’s ‘You’re The Reason I’m Living’, and put his own unique spin on the style.
The life of Bobby Darin was cruelly cut short when he died after open heart surgery on 20 December, 1973. He was only 37.
